Remember Me

Chapter Twenty-One

I take a sip of the drink that Lizzie hands me and I lean back into my beach chair, digging my feet into the warm sand. "Thanks, Lizzie," I say to my sister.

"No problem," my sister answers, handing another to Emma before taking a seat in the chair between us two girls. "It won't be a beach day without a Shirley Temple or two." She takes a sip of the drink and moves her sunglasses from the top of her head to the bridge of her nose.

I place my free hand over my eyes, shielding them from the sun, to look at my friend and sister. "It's rare that we all get to have this bit of downtime, let alone at the beach," I say, squinting my eyes a bit more.

"Yeah, I know," my sister agrees, taking a long sip of her drink. "I know it's the last day, but I'm surprised the dads don't have anything planned. No final hurrah or something, you know?"

"They need a break too," I reply. "They've worked so hard over the past four weeks to make this trip memorable. Besides, we get this girl time, so it all works out."

"That is so true, but Charlotte, why didn't you bring a hat or glasses?" Emma asks, her brows furrowing. "The sun is going to burn your eyes."

I laugh. "They are up at the Olson's campsite. I don't feel like getting them," I explain, bringing my hand down and closing my eyes, letting my head rest against the chair back.

"Luke can go get them for you," Emma offers.

I let out a laugh. "No, that's quite alright. I wore my sunscreen." I tilt my head up to take a sip of the cold drink. "Remind me to tell George that this is delicious."

Just as I bring my cup down, a ball lands in my lap, spilling some of the Shirley Temple on my hand. "The fridge nugget!" I yell, grabbing my cup with my other hand to shake the wet one of the red liquid.

Lizzie cackles at my exclamation. "One of these days we will hear you swear, Charlotte James," she smirks to which I stick my tongue out at her.

"Not going to happen," I smirk.

I'd never understood the satisfaction of using curse words, that many of my fellow friends do. The words are filthy and in my opinion, make you seem unintelligent. There are millions of words in the English dictionary that can be used instead of profanity.

"Sorry, Char," a low voice says as a shadow casts upon me. I squint my eyes to look at the figure standing in front of me.

"Geez, Nathan. I would like to drink my drink, not wear it," I tease him while handing my drink to Emma so I can wipe my hand on the towel.

Nathan laughs and crosses his arms across his broad chest. "Your swimsuit matches the drink, so it won't stain. Besides, I can always throw you into the ocean to clean yourself off." He picks up the ball and throws it back to the group of dads, Simon catching it with one hand.

"No thank you, but I appreciate the offer." Nathan takes a seat beside me and my brows furrow as I take my drink back from Emma. "Aren't you going back to join them?"

"Not right now, no. They want to play volleyball, but we have one extra person. Unless one of you lovely ladies wants to join us?" Nathan offers, his eyebrows raising behind his neon green sunglasses. "To even the teams out, of course."

"Not a chance," Lizzie replies, resting her head back to face the sun. "Did you forget that my father banned me from playing volleyball. Remember last year's incident?"

I let out a small laugh, remembering what had apparently happened last year from what Lizzie had told me when she had got home. The Ruck 'n Rumble Crew were having fun playing beach volleyball when Lizzie asked if she could play because she wanted to prove that she was an advanced player. Turns out it was just bluff, since the only reason she wanted to play was to impress her beach sweetheart of that year, Kyler. During the game, Lizzie managed to somehow spike the ball right into Kyler's face, not only giving him a nose bleed but a black eye as well. My father had banned her from even touching a volleyball ever since.